before surgery

POST-OP

WE DID IT!!! i got the surgery! yesterday at 7:30am. i honestly can't remember much after they had the IV in for a good ten minutes (which by the way, took five tries in different places). The next thing i knew i was in and out of consciousness in recovery. all that i remember from recovery was crying(because i couldn't breathe), and Dr. Piper bringing me my teddy bear! Then i woke up in our room with my mom and DJ.

30 Minutes after you wake up, you are required to walk up and down the hall, and then do it over and over again every 30 minutes. That wasn't bad at all, except you can only sleep for 30 minutes at a time. My face is a bit swollen, but mostly from my wisdom teeth extractions. As far as we have been told, the jaw surgery itself does not lead to much swelling.

Eating... well... drinking, is not too bad. they give you water, apple juice, ginger ale, and ensure to keep you hydrated and not hungry. the vanilla ensure wasn't bad, but i REALLY liked the strawberry. I didn't ever try chocolate because I'm not a big fan of chocolate as it is.

It took me a really long time to go pee. I guess peeing is pretty important after surgery, lol. I had the feeling that i had to pee, but every time i tried to go, it wouldn't come out. i tried and tried, and eventually, Piper said he wanted to to drain my bladder and do a catheter. I definitely did NOT want to that. and i think the possibility of it scared the pee right out of me. It took a few hours, and several trips to the bathroom, and i finally peed. no catheter for me :)

so i have lots if pictures and videos, and I'm assuming, you would like to see them as much as i would like to post them.. so i will make a few new blog posts, with different photo categories! but before i go, just know that you should probably get a dry erase board. not only does it help you "talk" , but will keep you and whoever is with you busy. :)

Quick Timeline

• Tuesday: since my mother is a photographer, we decided to take some pre-surgery pictures on the beach. I got my makeup done, got some cute outfits, and dragged my boyfriend (DJ) out and got some cute shots before I'm brace-face for a while. 

• Thursday: DJ and I went out for sushi, and a movie.. kind of like my last hoorah before braces!! 

•  Friday: Went to see doctor piper to get impressions for my splint. Then, headed over to the orthodontist and got me some new braces.. above is my before and after.

• Friday continued: Went out to hamburger Mary's with my friends. Just getting used to the new braces. 

• Sunday: Went to the beach with my friend Olivia. From far away, you can hardly see the braces!! not too shabby, eh?

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday is the big day. ill be getting up, probably around 3:45, and leaving at 4:00. We have to be at the hospital by 5:30, and surgery at 8:00. My teeth are a little sore from the braces, and super cold-sensitive on one side for some reason, so we are going to see if the dentist can do anything about that on Tuesday. I'm super and excited and also super nervous, obviously. Two days after the surgery is the ambassador (my show choir) end of the year party. i really REALLY don't want to miss that, so I'm going to try my best to feel up to go say goodbye to all the seniors forever and to all the juniors and sophomores until next time. Will be blogging as soon as i am home from the hospital. maybe a Vlog? we'll see :) xo

Scatter Brain!

I will be spilling whats on my mind in this post. SO MUCH GOING ON!!!

• So, I just finished filling out the big packet of paperwork sent to us from Piper Clinic, and suddenly things are getting so real! I'm thinking happy thoughts, and remembering that when all is said and done, i will be so glad to have this taken care of! 

• My one fear coming out of surgery is yawning. Yawning sucks now, because my jaw range is limited, but it's tolerable. Also, i yawn A LOT for some reason. I don't know, it just freaks me out a little. I guess everyone has a fear going into surgery. 

• Another dentist update: I got my cleaning done, and all but one cavity filled (which will be done on Tuesday). On Monday I have auditions to make it back into the show choir I am in. Super nervous/excited! But after auditions and my last bit of dental work, i can relax until Friday, when i go in the get all my lab work done for the hospital. 

• I get to go to Hamburger Mary's with my show choir girls, and director that Friday, too! That will top off my week perfectly :) 

• The Monday after that i have to go in and get braces out on :( not looking forward to that a bit, but it must be done! It makes it a little more bearable, though, that they use the white/clear brackets in the front, so it doesn't look too bad. 

• I just went and got PJ's and tall socks, and a little jump suit thing for after the surgery! They're all super cozy! The jump suit is just something to throw on if i have to go out, so i don't have to wear jeans or anything uncomfortable, or a less decent like pajamas. 

• My surgery is a few days before my exams, which i will be making up later in the summer, and a week before my brother, and boyfriends graduation! So i will most likely be making a fat-faced appearance at my high school graduation (because ALL my friends are graduating this year), and my brothers graduation party. 

• Lots of family is flying in for my brothers graduation, and staying at our house, so it might be a chaotic first few weeks of recovery!!!! 

ON A BRIGHTER NOTE:

i found an old picture from after i got in my car accident. 

Back story: i told you guys about the accident, but not the treatment. i had to go in and see my chiropractor 3 times a week for almost 5 months! I had to ice my neck every evening 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, and repeat. I am not the kind of person who wants to lie in bed doing nothing, even when I'm icing my neck and back, so i had to think of a way that i could me mobile, and ice at the same time, without holding my ice packs to me with my hands! well, i definitely got creative! even gave myself a little spot to hold my phone :) The whole look, made complete with my favorite smiley boxers :) I hope you enjoy this silly image as much as I do! :)

Filling You In

I went to the dentist on thursday. I would have blogged about it then, if i didn't have such a horrible sore throat. It is literally the worst sore throat  have ever had in my life. It is causing headache and pressure in my ears and face, and a really stiff neck, and as you know, sore throat comes with limited swallowing ability. So yeah, life has sucked since thursday.

But, as far as the dentist went.. They went in and filled two cavities. They worked for about 15 minutes at a time, and dealt with the limited space i gave them, and we took 5 minute breaks between the working. I will be going back a few more times next week for a few more fillings and a cleaning. As far as pain, it wasn't terrible. But it was definitely uncomfortable, and caused soreness in my jaw afterwards. But it must be done, and I'm glad that much is over.

I would write more, but I'm feeling like a slug. A really sick, extra slow, heavy slug. I just hope this sickness passes quickly. I'll let you know how the next few appointments go!

XO

Good Words, Happy Thoughts!

So just before my jaw locked up, i went to the dentist and thy told me i had a few cavities that they needed to take care of. Well, shortly after my jaw locked, making it nearly impossibly for them to get in there and fill the cavities without causing extreme pain to me. My mom just made an appointment to go to the dentist on Monday for a consultation to see what work needs to be done (before the surgery happens) and how to go about doing it. Now I'm only repeating what mother told me, and what i was told is that I'm probably going to be sedated to get my cavities filled. We're going to call Dr. Piper today, and see if the dental work will mess with my jaw too much, pre-surgery, but the dental work does need to get done somehow.

ALSO! My mom was talking to our dentist, Dr. Selby, (who is an AMAZING guy btw) and told him about the TMJ surgery I'm going to be having with Dr. Piper in 3 short weeks, and you know what he said? he said that Dr. Piper is the best TMJ surgeon in the WORLD, and if my TMJ can be fixed, he will fix it. I mean, i never doubted that for a second. All the Piper reviews we're getting from everyone are amazing. From people on blogs and answer websites, to the people we met in his office, to doctors we've been seeing for years, EVERYONE seems to have something good to say about Dr. Piper. I realize how blessed i am to be living only a short hour away from his office, when people are traveling to him from Australia and China! Of course, I am still nervous about the surgery, But the reassuring words we are hearing from every direction are soothing my worries.

I'll let you guys know what they end up doing for my dental work! XO :)

The Last Drink

i am drinking my last juice/smoothie/icee of the cleanse as i blog! I am definitely not a big fan of the last drink, but ITS THE LAST ONE!!! Okay, so i didn't take many pictures because i was tired and grumpy for the first two days. But TODAY I felt like skydiving, or bungee jumping, or climbing Mt. Everest idk SOMETHING HUGE! Anyways, I'm going to go ahead and be straight up with you guys. It's not very fun at all. You start craving things like white bread and BBQ chips two smoothies in. I was completely exhausted day one and two. But like i said before, today i feel like the King Queen of the World! Here's the three pictures i DID end up taking throughout the cleanse.

This is part of the H2O detox. One of my least favorites because the sparkling water upsets my stomach a little bit. How pretty, though! :)

This is the H2O detox after instructions tell you to add the mineral water and juice in a large bottle, shake, and enjoy. Well groggy minded me was CERTAIN that the instructions said bowl. Guess i was wrong. (how embarrassing) Didn't take long before i realized my mistake and switched to a bottle. 

This (FINALLY) is my last smoothie, and the reason i added ICEE to the list above. its a very small portion of juice, and you just have to blend it with ice, so i added extra ice and made an ICEE. I am so glad to be on my last detox drink though. tomorrow i will be eating gluten free rice toast, rice, eggs, and veggies, and going out to eat somewhere for dinner because its my moms birthday! YAY! 

Going into surgery preparation mode pretty soon. GETTING A LITTLE NERVOUS! Ahhh!

Before i go, some Detoxing tips:

• Prepare yourself, mentally, and physically. Make sure you're not detoxing over something important, like big exams, or birthdays, or things like that. And before you start, make sure you have the appropriate materials. 
• GET LOTS OF REST!!! I wish i would've followed this advice for myself. I ended up babysitting, and studying for an exam, and watching movies instead of sleeping. that definitely kicked me in the butt. 
• If you're leaving in the morning, and will be out past lunch, cut the fruits/veggies for your morning/lunch drinks, and juice them in the morning. Preparing the fruits/veggies ahead of time saved me lots of stress!
• Enjoy it. Try and keep your mind off of the "better things" on the food pyramid. you're doing good things for your body. 
• BE HAPPYYYYYYYYY! :)

It's Cleansing Time

So, as you know i am having my TMJ surgery on May 29th. Among the several people i have talked to about the surgery, almost all of them have complained about the weight they lost in the first week-or-so.   I tend to eat what i want and not give a heap because my metabolism takes care of it all for me. But to cut my food supply cold-turkey would be a death sentence for the fat i do have lounging around in my body. I do not have a pound to spare. So because i am 5'3 and 105 pounds, i am going to start introducing my body to all of the healthy fats that the world has to offer! So, here is my plan:

I am going to start a 3 day detox tomorrow; Monday, April 28th 2014. It is a Jason Vale detox program, which i will add the link for below. After my detox i will eat healthy fats. Avocado, coconut oil (and other healthy oils), nuts, fish, etc. Because i am still in school, i am spending my night cutting up the fruits and veggies for tomorrows smoothies, and preparing myself for the days to come.

I am cleansing now for this reason mostly: If i continue my diet until the surgery, and then go on the liquid diet necessary for recovery, my body will go into cleanse mode, and that is far too much to put on your body when you're going through such a crucial time of healing.

I am super excited for this cleanse. Not only as preparation for surgery, but also to start eating better in general. It is something I always tell myself I'm going to do, but i never get around to it. What better of an excuse than surgery!

Here is the link to the specific 3-day cleanse i will be doing.

http://fresh-network.typepad.com/fresh_network_blog/2013/01/juice-master-jason-vale-reveals-his-super-juice-detox-programme-to-get-you-cleansed-and-feeling-fresh-in-only-three-day.html

I'll post pictures of my juices as i go :)

MY STORY

Here's a little timeline of me. 

This is me, pre-braces, holding a picture of VERY little me, before i had this surgery called "otoplasty", which is getting my ears pinned back. I was a little monkey! I am also wearing a cast in the picture. That's because just a few weeks before this, i flipped a four wheeler! It landed (i assume) on my ankle. I tore every ligament in my foot, and had a clean break through my tibia. I was on crutches FOREVER! Anyways, This picture was probably taken around the time that my TMJ symptoms started. I woke up one morning and my jaw was locked up to a certain point. I was FREAKED out! I ended up pushing my jaw sideways with my hand, and putting it back into place. This started happening every morning, and eventually i discovered that i could just open my mouth as wide as i could, and then POP it open the rest of the way. painful at first, but i got used to it. 

Here is me, probably over halfway through my time with braces. The popping still remained. It wasn't getting any worse at this point, but it wasn't getting any better. Finally, when i was getting my braces off, i had to get "finishing bands". That basically means you have a rubber band on every tooth holding your mouth shut to finish up your braces. Halfway through bands i had the WORST Migraine. DURING EXAM WEEK TOO! We talked to my orthodontist about the headaches and my TMJ, and he said he would order me a "bite reprogrammer". (or something like that). It did nothing at all.

Here is me, about a year after i got my braces off. This is also after i got rear ended by a woman going 50 MPH while i was at a stop light. I told my mom "I'm fine! I'm fine!" that night i realized i was not fine. I had whiplash! I went to see a chiropractor the next day, who showed my how bad my whiplash was. He was practically a miracle worker, and fixed up my back and neck in a matter of a few months! but about a month after the car accident, my jaw locked. It was extremely painful and hard to deal with at the time. It has now become one of those thing i just live with. It is very painful, and limits what i can eat, and is VERY painful when i yawn or sing. Well i was just about done being in pain. We had heard the name "Dr. Piper" here and there, so we decided to give him a call. Well i just had my appointment with him to find out that i will be going through a disc repair surgery on May 29th. If my disc is irreparable, he will do a fat graft. (he takes a little ball of fat from your tummy and replaces your disc with it!) so until then i will be preparing my self mentally, and physically for the surgery, and most of all, the recovery.

So thats my story up until now. From here on out, I will be blogging about my dietary choices, and my preparation for surgery. After surgery it will be all about post surgery survival (and more nutritional posts). I'll keep you updated on anything and everything. Thanks for listening! :)

Xx

Hello!

Hello, My name is Emily. I am 16 years old. I have had TMJ since i was 12. I will be blogging about my journey through all the problems, solutions, and every little thing in between. This is not only for my documentation and pleasure, but for your knowledge, enjoyment, and comfort. I hope you find my blog to be a place where you truly understand that you are not alone. I can't wait to bring you along with me as i FINALLY bite back!